Headlight



G. IHIPPE.

HEADLIGHL APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20,1920.

1,413,811.. Pat-@med Apr. 25,]1922I- WITNESS:

'of IIIIS I GRAHAM TRIPPE, OF

DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

HEADLIGHT.

To all whom t may concern: 'Y n Be it known that I, GRAHAM TRIPPE, acit1- zen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county ofWayne and State of Michigan, have l.invented certain new and usefulImprovements inl Headlights, of

i cle.

which the following is a'specification.

The present invention relates to headlights such as are used on motorvehicles and consists in an attachment of novel construction, which isreadil applicable to existing forms of such headlights. 'Such attachmentincludes a supplementary reflector shaped to lie in .p

front of` and cover the lower half of the regular'reflector of theheadlight, and having for its object to focus a portion of theI light soas to provide a depressed beam for distant illumination, and to diffuseother portions of the reflected light so as to illuminate the roadwaybetween such beam and the vehi- The result aimed at is the properillumination of the roadway, both near .and far, without glare orconcentration of light in the Y line of vision of occupants of anapproaching vehicle, as is the case when the ordinary reflector 1s usedalone, to secure such effects by properly directing the light ratherthanby diminishing the degree of illumination afforded by the headlight. I

This supplementary reflector comprises a` plate a'ording twodifferentlyshaped reflecting surfaces merging into each other, one being parabolicand the'other conical, the effect of which is to direct the light rays,which strike the supplementary arabolic reflector, in adownwardlyinclinedp beam and to diffuse those which strike the conicalsurface in divergi'ng directions with respect to the axis of theheadlight. The arrangement'of tlie device is such that the lamp filamentis located infront of the focus of the regular parabolic reflector ofthe headlight, while'. it lies behind the focus'of the. parabolicportion -of the supplementary reflector and therefore behind t e conicalportion thereof.

In other words, 'the two parabolic reflect-fr ing surfaces are odsetfrom one another and the lamp lament is located between the fociv of thesame, the effect being that the rays from both said surfaces aredirected slightly downwardly from the axis of the lamp.

The rays reflected from the surfaces of each.'

of the parabolic reflectors Vare directed, of course, parallel to eachother, and the bundles of' rays from the two parabolic reflectingsurfaces merge 1nto a beam directed Specification of Letters Patent.

vthe arrangement vof the lam Patented Apr. 25,

Application filed October 20, 1920. Serial No. 418,172.

vto be effective below the horizontalaxis. The

rays reflected from the conical portion of the supplementary reflectorare directed at varylng vand divergent angles, whereby a diffused andnon-glare illumination is availble for the roadway and objects in thevicinlty of the vehicle. Therefore, all the concentrated reflected rayswill be directed into the area below the axis of the headlight, and willbe most 'effective on the roadway at a point considerable'in advance yofthe vehicle, while the-.area belowl andto the sides ofthe path of theconcentrated rays' will-be lighted by a non-glaring diffused light.

One of the features of` my invention is the ready adaptability ofthesupplementary reflector. to the ordinary or existing types of parabolicheadlights in use, without the necessity of modifyin the structure ofthe latter in any way. ther objects and adwantages of the invention willappear from the following detailed description in which reference ismade to the accompanying drawing. The embodiment of the inventiontherein shown and the representation of the ordinary headlight towhich'the invention is applied, are by way of example only, and

vention or its application to the exact forms shown.

In the drawing 4referred to Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofan automobileheadlight equipped with my reflector attachment, shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the same;

Fig.' 3 is a front view of the same;

Fig. 4 is la front view of the supplevmetary reflector and its attachingmeans 5 Fig. 5 1s a. side viewof thesame, and Fig. 6 is a diagrammaticview illustrating A filament' in relation to the foci of the o'reflectors.

' In thesewviews I have illustrated. my at: tachment as shapedsupporting bracket 1, the casing 2, detachable rim 3,' lamp support 4f,the lamp 5, front glass 6, The focusing-socket 11 is axially adjustableby the usualA focusing screw s, so that the lampiilament can be properlylocated with respect to the foci of the reectors, as hereinafter fullySet forth.

redector 8 covers the lower hal only of the set parabolic y andparabolic reflecton 7.,

y applied to a conventional type ofautomobile headlight comprising theU- 1'10 The suplementary reflector 7i its upper edge lies in the planeof the horizontal axis of the headlight and is provided with asemi-circular recess 10 adapted to lit loosely around the lower half ofthe focusing socketvll; lt is heldin place thereon by a 'spring clip orcollar 12, v

the longitudinal plane of the headlight sufliciently to adapt itselittoslight varia'- tions in the shape of the ixed redectors oi? differenttypes of headlights. Normally,- however, the spring clip 4integral, withthe reflector, in which case, of

course, the latter is not exibly supported and the two are held in iixedrelationshipa l As stated above, the supplementary re ecto'r, whichconstitutes my invention, comprises two distinct reflecting surfaces orportions, asmaller central parabolic portion 16 indicated. by the linesA. in Fig and a larger outerv conical portion 17, ythe two surfacesmerging into eachother -at the line 18,

l have mentioned that the iilament of the lamp 5 is located slightly inadvance of the locus of the parabolic reector 7, whereby rays ol lightfrom the lamp striking the upper partei said redector are directedlorwardly at ya slightly depressed angle, as l 2, and that said filamentlies slightly behind the locus of the parabolic portion 1.6 oil thesupplementary reector 8, so that the rays reectcd from it arealso-directed downwardly as indicated by the lines B in said ligure.This is graphically shown in Fig. 6 wherein the rilament of the lamp'isdesignated iF; the locus of the arabolic reector 7 is designated f, and.t e vfocus of the lparabolic portion 16 oi? the supplementary redactor8'is designated fp; U

rllhe rays striking the conical portion 17 ol the supplementary redectorare likewise directed somewhat downwardly, as indicated by the lines Cand D in Fig. 2 and, at the same time are -didused or diverted laterallyas well as vertically, that is to say the rays redected from saidconical vportionv are not directed parallel to each other but v atangles constantly varying from the inner edge to the outer edge of saidconical surface so that the light redected therefrom is didused and ofanon-.glaring character.

The onlyl rays which are directed horizontally forward are those fromthe lamp itseli, there being no horizontal' redected rays. 'llheparalled rays reflected from the parabolic surfaces 7 and 16 aredirected 12 may be made miseri downwardly as shown and described and therays reected from the conical surilace 17 are divergent and spread tanshaped, so to speak, so that a headlight equipped with my attachmentsends forth no blindingglare to annoy and confuse pedestrians or othermotorists.

The attachment or Asupple]inentary redector can easily and quickly beapplied to existing headlights by simply removing the rim 3 and glass 6,taking out the bulb 5 and clamping the ring 12 on to the lamp socket; itcan, ol course, be as quickly andeasily removed.. i

lt must be understood that the location of the lamp filament relativelyto the lociof the parabolic. reflectors has a very imortant bearing uponthe proper functioning of the headlight. The, extent oi' the collar 12to the rear ol the retlector 8 establishes the minimum axial distance bywhich the redectors 7 and 8 will be oilset,

which distance willJ establish the distance between the respective loci.The collar 12 constitutes ya guide for determining the,

proper adjustment oit' the ilocusin socket 11, said collar being ofsuch' wi th that when thel forward end ol the socketll is liush with itsliront edge, the' lilament of a predetermined form oil lamp will olnecessity be in front or the ilocal point of the redector 7. This willassure the proper deyression el the rays from the redector 7. he extentof the collar forwardly lfrom the 'reflector' 8 determines in the samemanner the position of the lamp lilament relative to the locus or thatredector, so

that the proper relationship oi the two is established by the mountingof the redector 7 upon the locusing socket. @nce the device is securedin place, no adjustment oit the focusing socket lcan be i eidective toraise the concentrated beam abdve the horizontal axis, movement ofthelamp hlament.

back of the locus or the upper redector being preventedl b abutment oilthe collar against said re ector,l .while the relation ship.' oie thelamp hlament tothe locus of` the @lower parabolic redector as well as tothe conical reilector l?, .is hired. lily provision oil a collar .of theproper width, moreover, a dehnite guide is provided tor accomplishinglocation or the dlament' l?" or `a given lamp 5 between the foci oitheredectors 'i' and 16 at a point where the resultant redectionswillcoincide in a beam oit maximum intensity.` Experience has shown 'whatthese distanres should be and the collars are made accor ingly. lnapplying my attachment to' an ordinary headlight the adjustable socket'has to be move forwardly suhicient to give space enough to mount thecollar 12 thereon, in the intended manner-which, when the collar is ofthe proper width, brings the" hlament Mld lltl

lill

iat

in front of the focus of the regular reflector, and in rear of the focusof the parabolic portion -16 of the supplementary reflector. Thisinsures proper focusing of the lamp in an installation for which thereflector is designed, and unless the lamp vis so' focused theattachment cannot be properlyapplied. Therefore, before installation can.be effected the necessary adjustment of the parts must be made whichautomatically will establish proper focusing of the lamp, without thenecessity of having to make an actual test of the adjustments orsubsequent corrective adjustments. l l

Havingthus described my invention what I claim is:

1. The combination with a headlight having a reflector and an axiallydisposed lamp mounting, of a supplementary reflector shaped to overljesubstantially the lower half of the primary reflector, saidsupplementary reflector having the portion of its reflecting surfaceadjacent its axis of parabolic contour and the balance of its reflectingsurface of conic contour, and means for supporting said supplementaryreflector upon the lamp mounting in such fashion that the focus of itsparabolic portion is in front of the focus of the primary reflectorexposed to the light from the lamp.

2. The combination with a headlight having a parabolic reflector and anadjustable mounting for supporting a luminant, of a supplementaryreflector adapted for insertion within the headlight and shaped to coversubstantially the lower half of the` vent retraction of the adjustablemounting' to a position where the luminant-may occupy a position at orbehind the focal point.

of the headlight reflector. l

3. The combinaion with a headlight having a reflector and an`-adjustable lamp support, of a supplementary reflector insertable intothe ,headlight to occupy a position in covering relationship to thelower portion of the headlight reflector, and means for\ mounting saidsupplementary reflector upon the lamp support, said means bein arrangedfor cooperation with the hea light to limit rearward movement of thelamp therein, said means cooperating with the lamp support to preventforward movement yof the lamp relative to said supplementary reflector.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

GRAHAM TRIPPE. Witnesses: x

. THOMAS' A. CoNLo'N, MAUDE BUCHANAN.

